


How Laurent accidentally got himself into a relationship

by mfingenius



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Don't copy to another site, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 05:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20222638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mfingenius/pseuds/mfingenius
Summary: Laurent moves in with Damen (knowingly) and begins dating him (unknowingly).





	How Laurent accidentally got himself into a relationship

“Oh, you’re here!” 

The only thing Laurent can think when he looks at the man is  _ big _ . He has dark skin, dark, curly hair, and big brown eyes.  _ Puppy  _ eyes. He’s taller than Laurent – a  _ lot _ taller than Laurent – and easily three times as wide. He’s a  _ giant _ .

“I’m Damen,” He holds out his hand and smiles. He has a dimple. “Auguste told me about you.”

Right.  _ Right. _

_ “ _ Laurent,” Laurent shakes Damen’s hand, feeling his face heat.  _ Fuck _ . “I, uh.”

Damen doesn’t seem to notice Laurent’s nervousness, and he smiles widely.

“Do you need help unpacking?” He asks excitedly. “I can help you carry boxes. I'm, uh, strong.”

From anyone else, it would’ve sounded like a brag, but Damen says it almost  _ shily _ . It’s infuriating.

Laurent has to stop himself from reaching out to touch Damen’s muscles as he says, “Yes, you are.” Damen looks at him weirdly, and Laurent turns red. “I mean, yes, I do. Need help. Unpacking. Thank you for offering.”

“Of course,” Damen says, and, together, they carry up the rest of Laurent’s boxes. 

He seems unable to look away from the way Damen moves while he grabs the boxes and walks up the stairs, and nearly stumbles over his own feet because of how distracted he is.

“Water?” Damen offers, once they’re done. Laurent nods, and Damen walks towards the kitchen. 

“This is a very nice apartment.” Laurent says, looking around. He’d never seen the apartment before; he’d lived with Auguste, before, and thought that he’d stay there through University, too; that plan had quickly changed when Auguste’s girlfriend had moved in with him. Laurent doesn’t want to  _ ever _ have to listen to his brother having sex again. “Why aren’t you charging me more for it?”

“Oh,” Damen says, from where he’s taking the jug of water out of the fridge. “Well, uh, my family is rich. And I own the place, so it’s not like I need the money. When Auguste  asked I told him you could live here rent-free, but he said you wouldn’t like that.”

Laurent hums. Auguste was right, of course. If someone had offered to let him live with them rent-free, Laurent would’ve thought they wanted something in return, most likely sex, and he would’ve gone looking for another place.

“I’m not rich,” Laurent says. “But I could pay more. If you wanted.”

It’s a lie. Their parents died when Laurent was four and Auguste was ten. Somehow, in the eight years that their uncle had the total control of their family fortune, he’d either transferred or spent it. What little had been left, Auguste had spent in the apartment he’d bought the second he was eighteen and on the lawyer that helped him acquire Laurent’s custody.

As it is, he’s going to be having a hard time paying Damen rent – which is pathetic, really, because it’s ridiculously cheap for the apartment that it is – but he says it because he doesn’t want Damen to think he needs to do Laurent favors just because Auguste and him are friends.

“No, it’s alright.” Damen shakes his head. He offers Laurent a glass of water, and Laurent takes it, drinking slowly. He hears the unmistakable sound of paws against the wood floor, and he feels excitement swell in his chest before he even sees what he knows is coming. “Oh, no, wait-”

It seems that even knowing what’s coming doesn’t save him from the absolutely  _ huge _ dog that jumps at him and takes him down without so much as a bark. It places its big paws on Laurent’s chest once he’s on the floor, and then begins licking his face. Laurent is in  _ heaven. _

“No, Eurydice!” Damen says, but Laurent can’t see him because of the 120 kilograms of fluff on top of him. “I am  _ so  _ sorry, she is not usually like this-”

“It’s alright,” Laurent says, silly smile on his face. The dog stops licking him and merely lets herself drop on top of Laurent, panting happily. Laurent can’t breathe. “She’s gorgeous.”

A moment later, Damen has gotten Eurydice off him and is helping him off the floor with a sheepish smile.

“Are you alright?” Damen asks, placing his hand on the back of Laurent’s neck and checking him over. Laurent’s cheeks, previously flushed from happiness, now darken because of the touch on his neck. “Does anything hurt?”

“No,” Laurent says. Eurydice is lying on the floor with her head between her paws, looking chastised, and Laurent pouts in return and pets her head. “She’s amazing.”

“She is,” Damen says, looking fond. “She’s also a devil when she wants to be, but even  then, I love her.”

Laurent grins. He's never had a dog because Auguste is allergic, but he loves animals in general, especially the big ones. He thinks living with Damen is going to be a lot better than he expected.

*

Laurent had thought that he’d spend his time at Damen’s cooped up in his room, avoiding all and any human interaction. He was wrong.

They have dinner together every day, the same as breakfast before Laurent leaves for University and Damen leaves for work. He works in his father’s company, and though Laurent isn’t entirely sure  _ what _ he does, he thinks it has to be something physical, because he’s seen Damen’s friends and they’re all  ridiculously big and strong.

They even begin taking care of Eurydice together. Damen jogs with her in the mornings, Laurent walks with her at nights. Damen quizzes Laurent when he’s studying, and Laurent returns all of  Jokaste’s \- Damen’s  ex girlfriend , who fucked his brother while they were still dating and is now living with him – things to her when Damen says he doesn’t want to see her.

It isn’t until they’ve been living together for six months that someone points it out to him. 

“You’re  _ dating _ .” It’s Auguste, of course. “That is  _ literally _ a relationship.”

“It’s not,” Laurent argues, as he’s cooking dinner. They trade turns, and even though Damen is a much better cook than Laurent is, Damen eats his food without complain. “We’re friends.”

“ _ Friends _ don’t go on dates once a week.” Auguste says.

Laurent rolls his eyes. Just because they have a restaurant night in which they go out every week, it doesn’t mean they’re  _ dates _ .

“They’re not dates.” He tells his brother.

Eurydice barks happily, meaning that Damen is home. A second later, Laurent hears the door shut.

“I’ve got to go,” He says.

“Fine,” Auguste says. “But you’re dating. You have a boyfriend. I thought you should know.”

Laurent rolls his eyes and hangs up the phone.

“Was that Auguste?” Damen asks. He kisses Laurent’s cheek – he  _ does _ that, he’s a touchy person, it doesn’t mean anything – and offers a bouquet of flowers. He knows Laurent likes sunflowers, it doesn’t mean anything either.

“Thank you,” Laurent says, cheeks heating. He puts the flowers on the counter – he’ll find a vase for them when he finishes cooking – and stirs the pan. “Yes. He’s... dumb.”

Damen laughs and leans against the counter.

“Auguste is dumb?” he asks with raised eyebrows.

“He’s  _ being _ dumb.” Laurent corrects. “He thinks we’re dating.”

Damen frowns. “We aren’t?”

“We  _ are _ ?” Laurent asks. He’s had a crush on Damen for months now, but he didn’t think he could ever be attracted to him. Damen is –  _ Damen.  _ And Laurent’s just... himself.

“Well, yeah.” Damen says, bewildered. “We literally go on dates weekly. I just brought you flowers!”

Laurent looks down at the flowers.

“Oh.” he says. “I thought - I thought you were just being nice.”

Damen looks uncertain. “Fuck, I'm sorry, I should’ve been clearer – if you don’t want to, we can-”

“No!” Laurent says quickly. “I mean, I want to. I do. Want to. Date you.”

Damen’s entire face brightens. “You do?”

“Yes,” Laurent’s cheeks are burning. “Yes, I do.”

“Good,” Damen says. He looks away, chewing on his lower lip. “Can I kiss you?”

Laurent nods.

It’s the best – and admittedly, the first – kiss he’s ever shared.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](https://mfingenius.tumblr.com/) :D


End file.
